West Goshen man who tried to pass himself off as kin of Newtown shooter jailed on probation violation

By MICHAEL N. PRICE

Friday, December 28, 2012

A Chester County man who made headlines last week for falsely claiming to be the uncle of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter in Newtown, Conn. is in Chester County Prison for violating state and federal probation, according to officials.

Jonathan Lee Riches, 35, of West Goshen, spent the last decade in federal prison for wire fraud and related offenses. He returned home earlier this year on supervised release and re-entered the local probation system to address violations predating his federal incarceration, according to officials familiar with his case.

On Dec. 17 Riches posted a video on YouTube depicting his trip to Newtown, three days after the shooting that left 20 first graders and six staff members dead at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the video, Riches is seen attempting to reach the home of gunman Adam Lanza, but is prevented by a police blockade. The video also shows Riches speaking to dolls with the faces of Adam Lanza, and his brother Ryan, attached. Early in the video Riches refers to the dolls as his friends, Ryan and Adam Lanza.

"We are truth seekers, and we are going to find out why Adam was mind-controlled and manipulated to go in and allegedly shoot little kids in Sandy Hook Elementary School, and why this happened," Riches said.

Riches also showed up at a Newtown memorial claiming to be "Jonathan Lanza," an uncle of gunman Adam Lanza. Several media outlets, including the New York Daily News, published Riches' claims that Lanza was taking a anti-psychotic drug prescribed to treat schizophrenia. Several photographs showing Riches knelt in prayer in front of a memorial were also published by various media outlets.

According to a document filed in both federal and local courts, members of the West Goshen Police Department alerted Riches' probation officers after learning of his videos. Officials within the West Goshen Police Department said that Riches has been well-known to law enforcement since he was teenager.

"There were constant problems, just contact after contact," said West Goshen Lieutenant Greg Stone.

Officials with the Chester County Adult Probation Office confirmed that Riches was detained for violating his probation, and that federal authorities are also aware of his violations.

"We locked him up for leaving the state without permission," said Christopher Murphy, who heads the county's adult probation and parole department.

Multiple officials familiar with Riches case said his erratic online behavior appeared to focus around the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. on July 20. That shooting left 12 people dead and 58 injured when a gunman attacked a theater during the premier of "The Dark Knight Rises." Riches' YouTube channel features many videos discussing the shooting, and proclaiming the innocence of alleged shooter James Holmes. Riches' videos frequently show him speaking to photographs of Holmes, who he refers to as his friend.

Some officials expressed concern over the erratic behavior seen in Riches' videos, and by his apparent sympathies with those that carry out mass shootings.

"In order to keep our children safe, law enforcement needs to assess and evaluate warning signs from potentially violent individuals," said District Attorney Tom Hogan. "No one has a crystal ball, but Chester County law enforcement has always and will always do everything possible to keep our community safe."

Riches has previously gained national notoriety for his reputation as the federal prison system's most litigious inmate. He has filed thousands of phony lawsuits that often named celebrities and other public figures as defendants.

In 2009 the Associated Press reported that Riches was suing the Guinness Book of World Records for attempting to name him as the world's "most litigious" person. Guinness denied naming Riches as a record holder and the case was later dismissed.

Riches is currently housed at Chester County Prison awaiting legal hearings on his parole violations, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office. It is unclear what will happen to him next, though it is possible that he will be sent back to federal prison.

"The Chester County District Attorney's Office is aware of Mr. Riches' behavior and we are exploring our options in both state and federal court," said First Assistant District Attorney Michael Noone.